Tag: anthrax

The Pandora Report 1.31.14

by Siddha Hover, posted in Pandora Report

Highlights include abrin poisoning, norovirus on another couple cruises, a B. anthracis bacteriophage, and H7N9 fears in Hong Kong. Happy Friday!

Bank worker, 36, ‘spiked her Magistrate mother’s Diet Coke with deadly poison’
A woman in the UK is standing trial for attempting to poison her mother with abrin, by spiking her Diet Coke soda with the toxin. As we mentioned last week after a man tried to sell abrin hidden in candles, abrin is 75 times more toxic than it’s bean-derived cousin, ricin. No word yet on the source of the toxin in the case. The woman was arrested following a counterterrorism effort in the UK – she will not, however, be charged with acts of terrorism or violations of the BWC. She maintains her innocence.

London Evening Standard – “Abrin strikes at the liver, stomach and kidneys and is potentially fatal. It costs between £600 and £900. Kuntal Patel, 36, is accused of spiking a Diet Coke with abrin…Patel was arrested after a hunt for toxic chemicals at her home following information passed to the Met from the US. She has said the substance was intended for a suicide bid which she later abandoned.”

Cruise ship back in Houston after nearly 200 fall ill
We’d like to say upfront that we have a degree of admiration for anyone still willing to go on cruise ships. While we understand that hundreds of ships plow through various bodies of water without issue everyday, when things go wrong on a cruise ship, they have the unique capacity to go spectacularly wrong. In 2013 alone, there were nine outbreak of gastrointestinal illnesses on US-based cruise ships  – 7 caused by norovirus and one caused by E. coli (the cause of the ninth case rather ominously remains “unknown”). Compared to, for instance, last February’s incident involving a week of no power or working toilets, this week’s two incidents – one norovirus outbreak on a ship sickening 170, and another sickening 700, seem relatively tame.

Houston Chronicle – “The Caribbean Princess left the Port of Houston on Jan. 25 bound for the Western Caribbean with more than 4,200 people on board. The vessel was scheduled to return on Saturday. According to CDC spokesman Llelwyn Grant, 162 of the 3,102 passengers and 11 of the 1,148 crew members had reported illness by late Thursday afternoon. Ship employees implemented some of the agency’s recommendations for preventing further infections, he said…Caribbean Princess passengers will remain on the ship until they are cleared by U.S. Customs authorities, which will take several hours, according to Princess Cruises spokeswoman Julie Benson. Besides overnight accommodations in Houston, the cruise line said passengers would be offered a 20 percent credit toward a future cruise.”

Newly-discovered virus has voracious appetite for anthrax
The Tsamsa virus, a surprisingly large, newly-discovered bacteriophage (bacteria-eating virus), seems to have a preferential appetite for Bacillus anthracis. This appetite can hopefully be one day harnessed  The virus was discovered in a zebra carcass in Namibia by an international team of scientists, led by researchers from Universities Berkeley and KwaZulu-Natal  from universities around the world. And people say academia isn’t glamorous.

UC Davis PR– “The virus was isolated from samples collected from carcasses of zebras that died of anthrax in Etosha National Park, Namibia. The anthrax bacterium, Bacillus anthracis, forms spores that survive in soil for long periods. Zebras are infected when they pick up the spores while grazing; the bacteria multiply and when the animal dies, they form spores that return to the soil as the carcass decomposes.”

Hong Kong reports third H7N9 death
China has culled 22, 604 birds following a batch of poultry testing positive for H7N9. Adding to fears over the virus’ spread, yesterday another patient died following an H7N9 infection, the third in the last month. Hong Kong has also shut it’s live poultry market for three weeks to allow for thorough disinfection. The most recent death, which comes just one day before the Chinese new year, has definitely not helped assuage fears. Still no sign of sustained person-to-person transmission

Economic Times – “The 75-year-old man had previously travelled to the neighbouring Chinese city of Shenzhen and died Wednesday morning, a Department of Health spokesman confirmed to AFP without elaborating. Fears over avian flu have grown following the deaths of two men from the H7N9 strain of the virus in Hong Kong since December. A 65-year-old man with H7N9 died on January 14 and an 80-year old man died on Boxing Day last year. Both had recently returned from mainland China.”

(image courtesy of Matt Wade/Wikicommons)

The Pandora Report 9.20.13

by Siddha Hover, posted in Pandora Report

Highlights include anthrax anti-toxin, the Pentagon and Ebola, antibiotics and global pandemics,  MERS baffling researchers, and a H7N9 vaccine. Happy Friday!

HHS replenishes nation’s supply of anthrax antitoxin

Rest assured, in case of an anthrax attack Uncle Sam has you covered. HHS, through BioShield, has renewed contracts with GlaxoSmithKline, replenishing our nation’s expiring supply of inhalation anthrax anti-toxin in the Strategic National Stockpile. Under the renewed contracts, we’ll be covered until 2018. The renewed contract also include a surge capacity, lest an anthrax attack occur and boosted production of anti-toxin is necessary. Believe it or not, surge capacity was not built into previous contracts.

KOAM – “To create surge capacity, the contracts allow HHS to place future delivery orders if an anthrax attack occurs, in addition to replenishing the current stockpile as needed over the next five years. The cost of future orders would be determined on a case-by-case basis, up to a maximum of $350 million per order. To receive a future order, the company must have antitoxin that is eligible for emergency use authorization or is FDA-approved at the time of the order. The replenishment and surge capacity are part of a governmentwide effort to prepare the nation to respond to security threats from chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons. Federal agencies, including HHS agencies and the departments of Homeland Security, Defense, and Veterans Affairs coordinate closely to ensure programs and requirements are aligned.”

Pentagon puts Ebola virus on bio-threat research list

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is actively soliciting research in therapeutics development against a slew of deadly bacterial and viral threat agents, ranging from our favorite Ebola to Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis. Drug companies and the US government have had a tumultuous relationship when it comes to developing vaccine/therapeutics for select agents. The solicitation is encouraging, if only as a recognition of the critical importance of researching these pathogens (if we do say so ourselves).

USA Today – “DTRA officials, the document says, are concerned about the potential use of ‘aerosolized filoviruses or alphaviruses’ that could be delivered through the air. Some of the illnesses, such as Meloidosis, affect people in areas where the Pentagon is devoting more attention. For example, a contingent of Marines is now based in Darwin, a city in northern Australia. While there are some vaccines that can treat some of these conditions, the document says, ‘they have inherent limitations and a suitably effective vaccine has to be approved.’ That’s why it’s critical for more research to be conducted to find ways to prevent and treat them, DTRA says.”

Antibiotics Could Cause the Next Global Pandemic

The invention of antibiotics was understandably a big deal – before penicillin, scraping your knee could kill you. Now, we take for granted that infections are cured by a visit to the doctor and a prescription for antibiotics. Which is why this recent CDC report is so concerning.

PolicyMic – “In a press briefing about his recent research, Dr. Tom Frieden, the CDC’s director, warned ‘If we are not careful, we will soon be in a post-antibiotic era … And for some patients and for some microbes, we are already there.’ The confidence in his statement reflected the very first hard numbers for the incidence, deaths, and cost of all the major resistant organisms gathered by the CDC. The urgent worry gripping national health organizations like the CDC is that our current ‘gaps in knowledge’ and continued inadvertent strengthening of antibiotic-resistant bacteria could lead to the evolution of new vicious, contagious diseases with no current ways to combat them.”

MERS virus transmission continues to baffle

Maybe it wasn’t the camels after all. Scientists working together in the UK and Saudi Arabia are having difficulty determining the MERS virus’ route of tranmission. Yes, some camels possess the antibodies, yet most of those who contracted MERS had no contact with animals. Researchers are in agreement about one thing – the virus outbreak’s “focal point” is Riyadh. With hajj occurring next month, discovering more about the virus is becoming increasingly important.

Aljazeera – “The genetic history of the virus suggests repeat infections may have occurred since then, but what the animal source was, or is, remains unclear, it said. Tests are being carried on mammals in Saudi Arabia ranging from camels and bats to goats. The cluster in al-Hasa, in contrast, shows that viral strains there were closely related, which is consistent with spread from human to human. The samples in Riyadh have a broad genetic diversity, the paper said. This could mean that the virus is being transmitted through an animal source that is continuously being brought in from elsewhere, it said.

NIH-funded pandemic preparation: Baylor investigates bird flu vaccine

Researchers are testing vaccines against H7N9, in case the virus develops effective human-to-human transmission. H7N9 struck China in March of this year, infecting 135 and killing 44. With a fatality rate of nearly 1/3 in a totally naive population, the virus definitely has pandemic potential. H7N9 may reemerge again in the cooler fall and winter seasons.

MedScape – “Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the study being conducted at Baylor will recruit up to 1,000 adults nationally who are 19 to 64 years old and in good health. Study participants will receive different dosages of an investigational vaccine given with or without one of two adjuvants, which are substances added to a vaccine to increase the body’s immune response. Researchers at each site will gather safety information, risks and benefits of vaccinations and the effectiveness of the vaccines to trigger an immune response.”

(image: LA Department of Public Health)

Forbes Piece: “Bioterrorism: A Dirty Little Threat With Huge Potential Consequences”

by Siddha Hover, posted in News

For those of you who wonder why we do what we do (and think us arguing our own merits may seem a bit biased), check out this excellent Forbes Opinion piece on the potential threat of bioterrorism.

Excerpt:

“Although federal efforts involving numerous agencies to combat the threat of bioterrorism expanded rapidly following the 2011 anthrax letter attacks, which killed five people and infected 17 others, various congressional commissions, nongovernmental organizations, industry representatives and other experts have highlighted flaws in these activities. A 2008 report published by the congressionally-mandated Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism concluded that ‘…unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack in the world by the end of 2013.’ It went on to say ‘The Commission further believes that terrorists are more likely to be able to obtain and use a biological weapon than a nuclear weapon.’ Making matters worse, unlike most other terrorist attacks, a biological attack could infect victims without their knowledge, and days could pass before victims develop deadly symptoms. To address this problem, the U.S. has been forced to implement air quality monitors throughout the country and stockpile antibiotics for emergency use.”

image via CDC/Dr. David Berd (PHIL #2983), 1972.

Fighting Anthrax with the Ocean

by Siddha Hover, posted in News

Phys.org has a new piece out discussing the hitherto unknown capacity of one species of Streptomyces to effective counter infections caused by Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria which produces anthrax spores. The molecule, appropriately named  anthracimycin, is equally effective in fighting other Gram-positive bacteria. Read more here.

Excerpt: “By using a variety of methods of analysis, the researchers were able to determine the structure of this molecule, which they named anthracimycin. Anthracimycin contains an unusual system of rings, one with fourteen carbon atoms and two with six each. This is a macrolide whose biosynthesis very likely occurs by the polyketide pathway. X-ray crystallographic studies allowed the researchers to determine the absolute configurations of the seven asymmetric carbon centers in this compound, identifying the complete 3-dimensional structure.”